Hello dear readers! This chapter is long overdue, but writing has been very slow for me over the last two weeks. It happens, but I hope you enjoy this longer installment.
Fanfic-Reader-88: Mister Benson has high hopes for his son and he certainly would push for him to snag a celebrity. We'll see when all the Bensons end up in the same room.
Guest: Thanks.
mkpunk: We pull what Lovecraft and his fellow authors at the time did such as the writer for Conan: referencing to each others works. The Jedi trilogy—tetralogy and his universe are parallel universes to one another. I've noticed that you've reference some of my work in one of your stories. Sam is Sam and going to react as such.
Tori's actions right now is a big question mark that will continue to be explored.
Cat is far smarter than she lets on. As the last story revealed, in this series, her persona is just an act. She's not stupid and she isn't suffering from any mental element.
It will be apparent how Amanda and Freddie interact if they get onto certain subjects.
seddieloverfan12: I'm sorry for the lateness of this update, but life sometime isn't conducive to writing. Freddie wasn't plundering into Jon's files, so he wouldn't run across anything to indicate anything. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Challenge King: I wanted Jon to have some advice from his big broth—a fellow Benson. Tori acting like Jade? Last time that happened was for André's benefit. Does Mister Benson know a little more about Freddie than he's sharing with his kids?
Twilight Warrior 627: Just give it a little more time before things explode. Working hard on everything I can, so keep an eye out for future updates.
PD31 has updated his Shelby/Freddie story and you should check it out.
Oh and if you saw the final episode of Sam & Cat… the ending leaves no doubt other than for the true Puckentine believers that Sam doesn't give one damn about Cat. Heck, even if that wasn't the last episode, I don't see how you come back from that.
Rating: T
Chapter 8
Tori and Trina Vega Residence
Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Amanda Benson swallowed nervously and glanced out of the passenger window of the '13 Dodge Charger as her brother pulled it up in front of the expensive home in the upscale neighborhood. She was one of the most popular girls in school and as such, she could handle being any type of social setting with the air of confidence one would have at that rung of the social ladder, but this was quite different as they were on an entirely different level of social circles being such celebrities. She had glanced down at herself several times to see if she was up to par in attire with her white leather jacket, pink top and white jeans.
However, her brother had reassured her on the way that they were friendly and not stuck up at all as one might expect from other celebrities. They had been welcoming to him and he was sure they would be the same with her, especially since Tori had personally invited them.
Jon pulled into a spot along with several other vehicles including a motorcycle that he was waved into taking by a tall and muscular African-American gentleman holding what looked like a metal detector wand. Unbeknownst to Jon, the bodyguard Marcus had accompanied Tori on her summer tour with Big Time Rush a few months back as her head bodyguard.
The New York Benson turned off the engine once parked and he and the dark redhead stepped out of the vehicle. Jon shut the door behind him and tapped his electronic key to lock the door with the accompanying confirming beep.
As they approached the gentleman, Jon stopped when he saw that black '69 Dodge Charger sitting in the driveway and a '67 GTO convertible. He stopped at the Charger and leaned over and glanced to look at the white interior was meticulously clean, his mouth partially opening and eyes nearly bugging out of their sockets.
Amanda crossed her arms under her chest and rolled her eyes teased, "You're drooling."
Jon snorted and glanced over his right shoulder, "Of course I'm drooling, look at this thing. She's beautiful. Dad would buy it on the spot."
The younger Benson shook her head and let the smirk play on her face. Her brother was right; there father had a weakness to classic muscle cars. "I guess you'll just have to ask whoever owns it if they're willing to sell it."
Jon nodded along and continued to admire the well maintained vehicle, but Amanda didn't have the patience to get his fill of eye candy and wrapped her arm around his right arm then started dragging him towards the house.
They approached the bodyguard and Marcus politely smiled to the pair and asked, "And you are?"
Jon answered with a nervous smile as the bodyguard was a muscular fellow and with the slight breeze blowing, he could see under the flapping open blazer jacket a shoulder holstered firearm, "I'm Jon and this is Amanda… Benson."
The bodyguard let a friendly smile form on his face and answered, "Yes, Miss Vega told me you would be attending. If you don't mind, I will have to wand you, security and all."
The dark redhead muttered, "I hope it isn't as intrusive as the TSA."
Marcus sympathetically smiled to her and quickly waved the metal detector wand over Jon then Amanda. Only hearing it go off around buckles, he waved them on towards the door.
The siblings reached the tall heavy wooden doors and Jon tapped the doorbell. They waited several seconds until the right door opened and revealed a lovely brunette that neither Jon nor Amanda recognize with short straight hair in casual wear. She waved them inside the home and the siblings stepped inside, but stopped in the foyer and looked out mildly stunned at the expansive home.
The living room was expansive with a semi-spiral staircase to their right and further back to their left one could see another large open area of a dining room with a table spread with various food trays. If they looked further down, they would have seen another large living room with an extensive home theater system where a few were watching television.
The siblings finally turned their attention to the guests easily mingling. Jon spotted Tori talking to Jade and a long haired young man around their age that he recognized as Tori's boyfriend from the various pictures together. He privately thought that the hair style made him look like a girl.
Amanda on the other hand looked a little wide eyed at seeing a girl nearly identical in looks to herself and talking to a blonde that looked like her friend Savannah and Freddie. She had brushed aside the resemblance to herself and the red velvet haired musician that her friends and classmates had brought up several times, but seeing her in person a few feet away made her reconsider.
Tori caught sight of the siblings from the corner of her eye and turned away from talking to Jade and Beck to walk towards the newcomers. She warmly smiled as the New Yorkers further entered her home and greeted them, "Hey, come on in."
Jon bashfully smiled. "Thanks." He motioned to the petite girl next to him and continued, "Tori, Jade, this is my sister."
Amanda nervously answered, a little overwhelmed that the singer was personally talking and welcoming her into the home, but with a far less pitch than Cat, "Hi. It's nice to meet you."
The brunette singer opened her arms and pulled her into them, "Nice to meet you. Jon mentioned you were a fan."
The petite girl's eyes nearly popped out from the celebrity hugging her.
Jade walked up to Tori's right and dryly commented to the dark redhead, "She's a hugger, not as bad as Cat, but she can be a hugger."
They stepped back and Amanda replied, darting her eyes back and forth between the singers, "Thanks. Yes I am and it's a thrill to meet you. I can't tell you how excited I am being here. I love your music too."
Jade raised her pierced eyebrow and softly smirked while diplomatically answering, "Thank you. I appreciate the support."
Tori picked up, "I'm glad you two could make it. Enjoy yourselves." She turned and pointed over her left shoulder to the back of the living room that led to the kitchen. "We have plenty of food in the dining room. Help yourselves and mingle; everyone's friendly," the brunette finished with a laugh.
The older Benson sibling replied, "Thanks."
Beck walked up from Tori's left and raised an eyebrow, glancing to his girlfriend with a questioning expression before looking back to the practical strangers and yet another one of their friends having a double, "Ah, hello?"
The muscular lean teenager politely smiled and offered his hand, "Hello, I'm Jonathan. I go by Jon."
Beck was about to continue, but Amanda excitedly interrupted to near fangirl proportion, "Oh my God, Beck Oliver. I love you on Twisted."
The long haired actor's slightly concerned demeanor shifted into the easy going natured that had served him well in high school and the last year when dealing with members of the opposite sex. He replied with his near trademark smile that always got the ladies to fawn over him, "Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy my performance and hopefully the show. Everyone puts in a lot of effort into making it the best we can."
The dark redhead teased, "Can I ask who you're eventually going to get with?"
The actor's smile grew brighter if possible and remarked in an easygoing manner, "You can asked, but I can't tell you… if I knew, I couldn't tell you. Spoilers."
Amanda laughed, "I had to try."
Tori's easy going smile slightly faded while watching the dark red start to fawn over her boyfriend. She casually remarked or at least tried to as there was a hint of strain to it, "Yes, we're all eager to hear which one of his lovely costars he'll end up with."
Jon and Jade picked up the strain in her voice and directed subtle looks of concern to the brunette, each for their own reasons.
Beck continued curiously looking at him and replied with a slightly forced laugh, "So Jon, you're the other Benson they keep running into?"
Jade filed away in her mind Tori's reaction then spoke up to explain, "Yeah, this is the Jon we mentioned that Tori and I ran into before class…" She softly finished with a laughed, "…who happens to be a very talented musician."
A boyishly embarrassing grin formed on Jon's face and he tried to casually remark, "Hopefully I am."
Amanda spoke up to support her brother, "Yes he is. We're hoping he'll meet the right people so he'll get the chance to use it." The dark redhead passed a sly glance to Tori and Jade as she finished her statement.
Jade suppressed a smirk of being impressed with the subtle approach from her friend's doppelganger in suggesting that he had already met the right people to help him. Depending on how things went, she thought she just might introduce Jon to the right people as he did have talent and an easygoing personality—something that would have completely drove her nuts years ago.
Jon licked his lips then pointed out, "This is Hollywood, so I have a better chance than I did in New York."
"Dad still disagrees with that though. There was plenty of opportunity on the East Coast."
Beck casually remarked, but just like with Tori, Jade picked up on the strain in his voice and a guarded glance to the newcomer, "You're right Amanda, but so is Jon. He's already lucked out with meeting Tori and Jade."
Jon apparently picked up on it too and slyly replied while looking Beck straight in the eyes, "I guess I have with us having the same room for different classes."
The longer haired teenager felt an odd sense of déjà vu in the potential standoff as if he was looking into Freddie's eyes. Those never ended well for him, but the one standing on the other side wasn't Freddie and didn't have a smidgen of moral high ground on him. Regardless of how settled things had gotten between the pair, he wouldn't be manipulated or pushed around by another Benson.
Beck broke eye contact and looked to his girlfriend and casually remarked, "You didn't mention he would be dropping by."
Tori knotted her brow and put on a confused expression. She uttered, "I didn't?" She suddenly laughed, "Wait, I wasn't supposed to know about this. Trina and Jade were supposed to handle the guest list."
The long haired actor pursed his lips to hold back a smile and shook his head.
Tori continued while passing a glance to Amanda, "Jon mentioned how big a fan his sister was of mine and Jade's music, so when he mentioned that she was visiting this weekend, I thought why not treat her in seeing us. It was Cat's fault in letting it slip during our lunch last Friday to keep me busy while they were planning this."
Beck glanced to Jade with a questioning and borderline accusing expression as he recalled what he was doing around lunch time that previous Friday, realizing how determined his ex and his current girlfriend's sister wanted to have a little chat with him.
The dark haired pale singer looked back without any sign of guilt with an equally challenging stare, something that had unfortunately been ingrained with her when they all the spats they had between them since they broke up.
Any tension that could form between the stares was swept away when Amanda randomly asked another question about Beck's show, hoping to get any kind of inside scoop.
While his sister tried to cajole something out of the long haired actor about the upcoming season, Jon chuckled to Tori, "Wasn't expecting to be wanded."
Beck quickly finished an answer to Amanda that didn't involve spoilers to answer before taking a sip from his drink, "You just can't be too careful. We've had a few security concerns and there have been a few times where someone's walked inside carrying a weapon."
Ava had been close enough to overhear the conversation after wrapping up her conversation with Rex, who wanted to join Sinjin and André playing something on Tori's PearBox on the singer's very expensive entertainment center, and quickly spoke up with rolled her eyes, "Uhhh, we get it Beck; Canadians don't believe in handguns." She spat out in nearly disgust, "You act like he's randomly going to pull it out and shoot people."
Beck slightly turned to look down at the peripheral friend and remark with a firm voice, "I don't feel comfortable when he's been here armed. It is illegal for him to carry one in this state and are you ignoring the fact that he is randomly killing people."
The Manhattan siblings glanced to one another, unsure how the conversation took such a serious turn.
Jade and Tori was just as surprised, a fair amount of worry filling Tori how she was going to explain his words to their guests.
Ava just narrowed her eyes and shook her head then turned to the siblings and offered her hand to Amanda. "I'm sorry, I'm Ava Cohen. You'll have to excuse Beck; he can take his jokes a little too far sometimes." She threw him a glance to challenge him to refute her words, but he held his tongue.
Jon and Amanda briefly glanced to each other, trying to subtly convey to each other their mild surprise at the tension shown between the pair and whether or not his words were really a joke or not.
The dark redhead easily smiled after her brief glance and accepted the equal statue girl's hand. "Hi, Amanda."
"It's nice to meet you. I see we've found another twin."
The New Yorker knotted her brow and asked, momentarily forgetting about seeing Cat when she first entered the home, "Another twin?"
The long haired brunette smirked. "I guess it was bound to happen to all of us at some point."
As if to reinforce Ava's point, the red velvet haired finally approached the gathering and waved, "Hiii, I'm Cat. I got a twin!"
Amanda froze for a moment at seeing the up and coming artist that close. She swallowed her surprise then smiled and politely replied, "I'm Amanda."
She looked to the dirty blonde that walked up with Cat. She paused again at seeing another familiar face.
The blonde tightly smiled and introduced herself after several seconds of waiting for Amanda to speak, "I'm Sam and you're the Bensons."
Amanda ignored the apparent discomfort of the blonde dealing with another Benson and snorted out, "I'm sorry; you just look like a friend of mine back home."
Sam quickly shook her head. "Oh no, I can't have a double too. I already have a real twin, my sister Melanie. There are no other me's running around."
Jon remarked with a grin after giving Sam a few up and down glances, "I don't know. You do look like Savannah this close."
The dirty blonde frowned and slightly narrowed her eyes on the handsome Manhattenite, a look she had honed to use on Freddie for years. However, unlike say a middle-school aged Benson that would be fearful of such an expression, Jon looked back to her in mild confusion.
At the front door, Tori's assistant Stacy opened the door to reveal Heather and her companion for the afternoon, Nate. Stacy recognized her as Heather instantly not only because Jade had already arrived, but the slightly longer and darker hair and the lighter pallet of clothing chose by the model with her baby blue spaghetti strap outerwear cami and medium color blue jeans.
The model politely smiled as the assistant opened the door wider for the pair to enter with Heather taking the lead while Nate's cowboy boots clicked on the tile foyer. She paused only a few feet into the foyer and cautiously looked around to see the small gathering of teenagers in the living room. She spotted Freddie and Jade talking with Beck and Tori along with a young man she didn't recognize and Cat, but her hair was darker than she remembered.
Freddie caught sight of her from the corner of his eye then politely excused himself from the other teenagers to walk towards her. Jade and Tori quickly disengaged from their respective conversations and followed him towards the model and her companion.
The former tech-producer smiled to Heather as he approached and she cautiously smiled in return, unsure what kind of welcome she would be given despite the personal invite from Jade.
Any cold shoulder she might have expected from them was disregarded when Freddie pulled her into a hug, careful not to spill his drink in his hand and surprising her with the warm welcome. This had been the first time since she and the former tech-producer had seen each other since her breakup with Dusty and she wasn't sure at all about his reaction to her, but this wasn't what she expected.
Nate raised an eyebrow at the gesture, apparently not appreciating the other man's forwardness towards Heather.
Heather lifted her arms to pat his back before he pulled away and stated, "It's good to see you. We missed you at our last get together."
The model bashfully smile and nodded her head. She meekly answered, "You know, work." She wasn't really lying to him about the reason she had been absent as she had been working, but she wasn't going to mention that she was finding something to do in order to avoid being free to go.
Freddie apparently accepted the explanation and patted her on her bare upper arm, "We understand, but it doesn't mean we don't miss you."
The very dark haired girl studied his eyes, trying to see if he was just trying to smooth talk her. After a few seconds, she saw he was being genuine, but there was something else shining through his eyes that she just couldn't place. She mumbled, "Thanks. I'll try not to be a stranger."
Jade grinned and followed up with a grin, "You shouldn't be. We need someone to balance out my sour disposition."
"So I'm the good not-twin?"
The musician flicked an eyebrow and retorted with a playful grin, "I wouldn't go that far… I can be a pretty good girl when I have to be and I know you have to have a little bit of darkness in there."
The very dark headed teenager paused, not sure how to take the statement. She forced a polite smile then quickly motioned towards her taller companion and politely introduced him to Freddie and Tori to distract from her lost of words, "I'm sorry. I'm being rude. This is my friend Nate."
Freddie nodded his head and Tori smiled and answered, "Hi, I'm Tori."
Nate paused in taking a few moments to look over Tori, finding for some reason the need to commit every inch of her to memory. He cleared his throat as he realized he was staring then awkwardly answered, "Hello ma'am."
The nearly identical girls noticed his momentary captivation with the tan skinned singer. Jade wanted to roll her eyes at yet another guy being attracted to the brunette while Heather felt a small sinking feeling in her gut about how Tori was so able to get Nate's attention.
Tori motioned back deeper into the home and offered, "Come on in. We got food in the dining room and later we're going to get some karaoke going. I hope your singing voice is in shape."
The former Minnesotan bashfully smiled at Tori's reference that she had been taking a few singing lessons. She had some raw talent, but she wasn't train anywhere close to the singers in the house. "I'll try not to embarrass myself."
They were lead further in the living room and Cat approached with Amanda following.
Amanda slightly shook her head at seeing that Jade and Heather did look quite alike and it didn't just look that way from photos. Heather looked between the two redheads then looked to who she thought was Cat with the lighter red velvet hair and flower pattern dress.
The model was the first to speak, "You have a twin?"
Cat and Amanda looked to each other then the darker haired one quickly answered, "No, I'm Amanda Benson. This is the first time I've met Cat."
Heather looked to Cat and asked with a small laugh, "So you have a copy too?" She quickly turned her attention to Freddie and asked before Cat could answer her as it hit her what Amanda said about her last name, "Benson? I didn't think you had a sister?"
Freddie laughed and shook his head, "No, we're not related. We just happen to have the same last name."
"Oh?" She easily laughed, "I guess that's actually one of the lesser weird things that happens around all of you."
The brown eyed teenager took a sip from his cup then remarked, "Things could be weirder."
Amanda raised a curious eyebrow. "How?"
"If Shelby wasn't in New York, she'd be here and we'd have another pair with Tori," Freddie chuckled with a huge grin.
The dark redhead's brow furled a little bit, trying to figure out whether he was joking or not. She didn't think on it for that long as Heather continued, "Well it's nice to meet you."
"You too. I didn't expect to meet a famous model too when I got the invite."
The lighter aired near black hair girl awkwardly smiled. "It was a last minute thing with me. I'm getting busier as of late."
"It would explain why I keep seeing you face on this ad or another. You always look so beautiful in those…" Amanda interrupted herself with a laugh, "…and keeping your clothes on."
Heather bowed her head to the side and half smirked. "I intend to keep my clothes on. You won't be seeing me model Victoria Secrets or on Sports Illustrated. If some advertiser wants a model willing to shed a few layers to pitch their product, there are plenty of other models out there that have no problem doing it. I actually know a few that do that and send the work their way when I'm offered it and they send stuff my way they know I would do."
Freddie offered with his raised cup, "Tasha?"
"Yeah."
He replied with a smirk, "She's certainly not hurting with work since that video. She's all over the place."
The model joined in the laughter with a shake of her head, "No she's not."
Jade gave her fiancé a glance with her pierced eyebrow raised.
Freddie looked a little wide eyed then chuckled, "What? She's reported on the same media feeds I used to keep track of what they say about you. At least on those they're not showing everything she shows."
Heather quickly pointed out with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "Yeah, Tasha is certainly using her assets to get noticed."
An odd, awkward silent fell among the group until Amanda noticed and motioned towards the unusual circular white and silver pendant hanging midway down Heather's upper chest and commented, "That's a pretty interesting necklace. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that."
The face of the pendant was white and trimmed and backing in silver. On the white surface was a black circle with a symbol inside of a 'T' slightly raised and to the left of a backwards 'L' that were connected with a diagonal line from left to right connecting the bottom of the 'T' to the top of the 'L' and various other letters around it where two looked like 'N's' and a 'Z'. Above the circle was tiny triangle with one corner pointing up.
Heather looked down at her circular pendant and took it between her finger and thumb. She quickly began, "Thank you. My boyfr…"
The model's face fell into a somber look as she trailed off. She cleared her throat then answered with a tight smile, "My ex-boyfriend gave him to me. It's an ancient Enochian symbol of protection."
Amanda wasn't sure how to respond with the mentioning of an ex-boyfriend that clearly was a sore point for the girl.
However, Nate wasn't as sensitive and asked, "Then why do you still wear it if you've broken up with him? Why would you want to keep something around from that jerk?"
Heather looked to her companion for the afternoon and looked mildly dumbfounded in how to answer.
Cat put on a near pout at his remark about the teenager that was her ex too and Freddie cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes before slowly commented, "That's my friend you're talking about."
Nate turned his attention to Freddie, "I don't mean to be rude, especially with the invitation to this little get together, but your friend's a jerk and a few other names I could think of, but they wouldn't be polite things to say in front of a lady."
The former Seattle teenager clenched his jaw a little tighter and the pair looked like they were about to start a staring contest, but Tori quickly looped an arm around Nate's left arm and suggested, "How about I show where the food is and show you a little bit around the house?"
The taller teenager threw another guarded glance to Freddie then politely answered with a bit of Texan charm, "I'd appreciate that ma'am."
As the duo started walking further into the living room, the others glanced to one another. Cat and Freddie didn't look too pleased with Nate, Amanda felt awkwardly out of place being caught in a situation she was clearly in the dark about.
Jade of all people interrupted the darkening mood by taking Heather by the arm and suggesting, "Come on. Let's mingle."
As Jade made her rounds with Heather to reacquaint with the others from the weeks going into months absence, Jon and Freddie started talking and randomly swiping chips from the chip bowel. Jon thumbed over his shoulder to the door and asked, "I was wondering, whose Charger and GTO are out there?"
Beck was in earshot and joined at hearing the mention of his car asked while throwing a glance to Freddie, "Which one the twelve or the old classic?"
The younger Benson answered, "The classic. It's a real beauty."
Freddie grinned as he answered with a bit of smugness lacing his voice, "Oh, so you were admiring the car?"
Jon laughed out, "I sure was. I take it that it's yours?"
The older Benson nodded and answered with a sense of pride, "Yep."
"Where did you get it?"
Freddie shrugged a shoulder. "Jade's mom got it for me from a salvage yard after I started renting a room from her."
Jon's face nearly fell while asking in utter disbelief, "You got that from a salvage yard?"
"Well, she didn't look like this when I got her. She and Jade had it restored as a Christmas present for me. I could show you some pictures of how she really looked liked when I got her. She was faded with some rust spots and the interior needed some work."
"It's a beautiful restoration."
"Thank you. So, are you into classic cars?"
"A little. My dad really got me hooked on them because he's big into cars…" The younger Benson raised an eyebrow and slightly smirked. "Actually, are you interested in selling it? I know my dad would give you a very generous price for it—cash if you wanted it."
Freddie shook his head. "I'm not interested in selling it. I've had plenty of offers to buy it. When Jade and I went back to Vegas after her eighteenth birthday to get her star re-tattooed from his shop, the owner of Kount's Customs offered to buy it. I already have too many memories attached to it and I don't think I could ever give it up."
Jon knotted his brow at hearing the name drop, "The guy from that History Channel show?"
"Yep. We went there since Cory and the guys from the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop suggested they were a good tattoo place."
The leaner teenager softly chuckled, "You know those guys too?"
"Yeah."
"Wow… You do meet the people."
"When you're with a celebrity… we met them during a trip to Vegas last year before we graduated from Hollywood Arts."
Jon nodded then continued, "I don't know if my dad could beat whatever he offered you, but I know he would try if he's interested in it and whoever owns that GTO."
Beck barely raised two fingers and admitted, "That's mine and I don't think I could part with it unless I really had to."
"Okay, I had to try for him or I probably would have to be hearing about it for weeks with him." Another thought suddenly occurred to the hopeful musician, "Hey, do you think he could at least get a look at it? He actually surprised me with coming with Amanda for the weekend."
Freddie countered with a boyish grin of his own, "For a chance to try to talk me into selling it to him?"
Jon chuckled as he slightly turned his head to the side, "Well… I couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't at least try to make an offer for it, but I know he would enjoy seeing such a beautiful vehicle."
"I don't mind, but when would he get the chance?"
The hopeful musician half smiled, seeing his point. "You're right. He wouldn't get a chance. He's only here for the weekend and I don't know when we'd be able to meet up. I wouldn't want to take up any of the rest of your weekend just for him to try to talk you into a sale you don't want to make."
Freddie motioned with a shoulder to Beck. "You could always bug Beck to see if he's willing to sale."
The taller teenager shook his head and smirked before taking another sip of his drink.
After making her rounds of briefly speaking with the former Hollywood Arts students, Heather stood off to the side cradling a red cup in her left palm just idly watching the others converse. She suppressed a frown at seeing that Nate was happily carrying on a conversation with Tori with several motions of his hands, probably telling her something about Texas or riding horses or something along those lines. She was so caught up in her thoughts and watching her 'friend' flirting with Tori, and that was exactly what she thought he was doing, that she didn't notice a shorter girl slip up beside her.
Ava slightly leaned over to the model and whispered while watching the Texan carry on with Tori, "So, got you a new fella?"
Heather softly furled her brow and frowned as she turned her head to look at the shorter girl. She quickly answered with a slightly prickly voice, "Nate is just a friend I met though work and even if he was something more, I don't have to explain anything to you."
The shorter girl slightly tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. She asked in a smooth manner, yet there was an underlining concerned tone, "A little defensive aren't we?"
The model bowed her head and her shoulders slumped then answered with a tired voice, "Ava, I don't want to play verbal fencing with you. I've already had to talk with Jade last week and I don't feel like dredging all of it up again."
The shorter girl gave her a sympathetic expression and quietly replied, "I'm not trying to start anything with you and you didn't need to bring him for any kind of moral support."
Heather gave her a guarded glance then answered, "Whether you do or not, I know why you're asking and I couldn't be sure of that. I know Dustin is your friend and you're loyal to him because you got close in high school… what you two could have become."
Ava returned with a quiet tone, "Dusty is my friend, but I thought we were at some level."
"Maybe, but I know how you see it and maybe how the rest of them see it: I'm the bad one; I'm the one that had to do something to cause us to break up," Heather sharply retorted, but Ava could hear the hurt in her voice.
The shorter girl understandingly replied, "Not if he's the one that hurt you even if I would have a hard time believing such a thing. No one thinks you're the 'bad one' or you wouldn't have been invited here or to dinners."
Heather looked the shorter girl straight in the eyes and questioned, "Why would you find it hard to believe? Because he's your friend? He can't be the one at fault? That's what Jade thinks."
Ava lifted a hand to rest on Heather's upper left arm and answered, "No… because I know he loves you."
The model turned to see Ava's sympathetic expression. The pale girl's defiant expression quickly started to waver and she retreated into taking a sip from her drink.
The shorter girl could only look at her with pity and a bit of helplessness.
Nate finally excused himself for a moment to find a bathroom and Jon took the opportunity to approach Tori with a big grin plastered on his face. "Thanks for inviting us. You just made Amanda's day—probably the year."
"I'm glad I could make her trip memorable."
"You certainly have…"
A few yards away, Trina had her attention on watching her sister talk to another man named Benson. She whispered over to Jade as the dark haired singer was getting a refill to her drink, "So that's the guy Tori's been flirting with?"
Jade looked to Trina and the corner of her mouth turned down. She answered in a sour tone, "Yeah, that's him."
"I can see why: he's a fine piece of man and he seems nice… and happens to be named Benson. Maybe I should take a run at him?"
Jade narrowed her eyes and quietly remarked, "Maybe you should?"
The older Vega sister tore her gaze away from the pair and looked at Jade's profile. "What?"
"Go over there and turn on your charm. Let's see how she reacts to the… competition?"
Trina frowned as she realized Jade's meaning. In another circumstance she wouldn't have given it a second thought about going for such a handsome guy, but to test to see if Tori was seriously looking for another option over Beck suddenly made her feel sick on her stomach. She didn't like the idea that her sister's heart might be breaking, but she liked it less that Tori could be looking to trade up instead of just dumping Beck before looking for someone else. She did not want to imagine her sister a cheater, especially with their mother's behavior.
"Okay," the older Vega sister replied and took a swig of her drink before sitting it down on the table. She had just wished it was a little stronger, but she was still a good eight months away from having a legal drink.
As Trina approached her sister and New Yorker, it never seriously occurred to her that perhaps her sister wasn't the victim.
Jade glanced around the rest of the viewable house and raised an eyebrow at seeing Freddie and Amanda start animatedly talking with laughs sprinkled into the conversation and each throwing their hands up in the air. She slipped over to them and asked, "What's gotten you two so worked up?"
Amanda instantly blushed and looked down to the floor in embarrassment.
Freddie either didn't notice or ignored the dark redhead's discomfort and answered, "We just got into a discussion about how Dingo buying out Lucasfilms will affect the future of the franchise and their related properties."
A corner of Jade's mouth lifted and her eyes playfully narrowed. She teased, her prickly nature when she usually did such a thing absent, "Oh? You're hiding some inner ge—"
Amanda hurriedly snapped, "Don't use the 'G' word."
Jade blinked, surprised the forcefulness of her reaction. Few people were that brave to snap at her and seeing it from someone that looked like Cat was even a greater surprise. Freddie looked on with a raised eyebrow and slightly turned down corners of his mouth.
The shorter girl bowed her head and embarrassingly mumbled, "I'm sorry. It's just… when I started high school I was not popular for a lot reasons where I had a very unflattering nickname and that was one of the reasons."
"Okay, sorry… what was the nickname?"
Freddie softly admonished with a laugh, "Jade?"
Jade looked to her fiancé then to the redhead with smirk. "What? I'm just curious."
Amanda forced a smile and politely answered, "I don't want to say."
The oldest of the Bensons in the room with a playful smile assured her, "And you don't have to say it."
The multi-platinum artiest slightly shook her head and muttered, "Spoil my fun."
Freddie grinned and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You know I always make it up to you."
Amanda held back a smirk at seeing how much those two were in love with each other.
In another part of the house, Jon was able to escape Trina's initial run at him by Cat interrupting the older Vega sister with some useless bit of news and entered the secondary living room. He paused in mid-stride at seeing the room. There was a large circular off white couch dominating the back of the room while the other end had a very large flat screen television with a full setup as an entertainment system. It was currently being used by three males, an African-American with dreadlocks, a lanky one with glasses and curly sandy hair and the third one with a similar build to himself and dark hair, on the couch into some intense play on the PearBox with various shouts of jeers to one another.
He looked at the screen and saw that they were playing some military shooter. He couldn't keep all the franchises separate, so he wasn't sure which one they were playing.
The three played for several more seconds until two of them were killed on screen and the tall dark headed teenager jumped up and shouted to the pair, "And that's how it's done gentlemen. Yay are no makes for Powers!"
The curly haired one rolled his eyes while the dreadlock wearing one threw his controller down in disgust.
Jon spoke up from behind the three to the dark haired one, "You got some serious gaming skills."
The three turned to look at the newcomer and Rex was quick to answer, "Yeah, I'm putting my opposable thumbs to use. They're great." He looked to his hands and wiggled his fingers. "God, I love them."
Jon raised an eyebrow and directed a curious gaze at the pair.
André cleared his throat and quickly covered, "Rex had some problems with his hands when he was younger and has had to do a lot of rehab on them."
Jon nodded and answered, "Oh… video game rehab?"
Rex laughed, "It works."
"By the way, I'm Jon."
The songsmith offered his hand and answered, "I'm André."
The younger teenager took the hand as the blonde curly haired teenager raised a hand and introduced himself with a smile, "I'm Sinjin."
The last teenager with dark hair and a similar build to him easily answered, "I'm Rex."
Jon politely nodded, briefly thinking that the guy's named sounded like it belonged to a dog. "So, which shooter is this? I'm more of a strategy gamer."
The others finally started making their way to the second living room after the guys got in a few more death matches, a few carrying snacks—Sam's plate filled to the brim as she was not going to turn down free food, especially to someone that was loaded and could afford it.
Rex smirked to the blonde as she took a seat on the far end of the couch that was closest to the entertainments system and teasingly challenged, "You think you can beat me in another rap battle Puckett?"
The dirty blonde took a few seconds to finish chewing the food in her mouth then replied, "I told you last time that I could staple Robbie's mouth shut and pull his hand out of your back and you still couldn't beat me."
The outsiders of the group put on odd expressions, clearly confused by her meaning, but none asked anything to clarify.
The 'teenager' that bared a resemblance to one of Carly's ex-boyfriends taunted, "Oh, it's on Puckett."
The former puppet and the former juvenile delinquent each took a microphone. The blonde grabbed a controller and thumbed through the selection to find a pretty generic track.
The track started playing and Sam turned to Rex while bringing the microphone to her mouth. "Alright you once rapping puppet, let's see if your skills have gotten better than being a rejected muppet."
A lot of faces suddenly put on shocked expressions with mouths forming 'O' shapes and covering them with hands.
Rex didn't take that lying down and quickly fired off a rebuttal that got the audience to clap along with the pair's trading back and forth mild snips, involving jives of being a puppet which only the inner circle of friends understood and being a former juvenile delinquent that enjoyed stuffing her face. They went back and forth for a good five minutes until the track ended then looked to the group to see who won. Unlike their battle at Kenan's party two years ago, the audience was equally divided between the contenders. Cat, Amanda, Freddie, Heather, Ava and Trina sided with Sam while Robbie, Jade, André, Tori, Sinjin and Jon supported Rex. Nate remained neutral in the voting as he really didn't care for the music either way.
Sam dismissively waved at the ones that voted against her, "You guys don't know squat about rapping."
Tori got up from her spot on the couch beside Beck and took the mic from Sam then the controller to the system. She thumbed over the control for the game to random select a song for a duo. She turned back to her guests and called to Jon, "Jon, why don't you treat us to some of your talent?"
Jon raised his hands and shook his head.
Amanda standing behind the couch gently nudged his shoulder to get him out of his seat.
The New Yorker reluctantly got up from his seat on the couch and took the second microphone.
The song started to play, 'Say Something' and Tori picked up the first line, "Say something, I'm giving up on you…"
Jon reluctantly picked up the next line, "I'll be the one if you want me too…"
The pair slowly worked through their song until Tori reached the lyric in a soft voice, "I'm sorry I could not get to you."
The pair turned to one another and poured a bit of their souls into the lyrics, "…anywhere, I would have followed you… say something I'm giving up on you…"
Heather was seated in one of the seats from the dining room table behind the couch. She took a breath then turned and headed out of the room and towards the dining room.
"And I would swallow my pride. You're the one that I love. I'm saying goodbye."
Nate was so captivated by watching Tori that he didn't notice at first that Heather was leaving, but Jade and Ava noticed her departure. Jade slipped off her spot on the armrest of the couch while Ava simply climbed over the back, drawing a curious look from her boyfriend.
Jade caught up to the model at the end of the dining room and called out, "Heather?"
The near identical appearance girl turned for an instant to meet Jade's concerned gaze then turned her sight to the floor. She raised the back of her right hand to under her left eye and her hair blocking Jade's view of the rest of her face. She quickly mumbled, "I'm sorry Jade, but I need to go. Would you please tell Tori that I had a good time and thanks for the welcome?"
Jade nodded her head and directed a sympathetic expression to her. "Okay. I'll let Nate know you're ready to leave."
The doppelganger to Jade glanced over her right shoulder and whispered, "Thanks." She quickly headed out of the dining room and towards the other living room.
Ava glanced to the ceiling and whispered, "Dusty… your girl's hurting. Where the Hell are you?" She waited a few seconds hoping for an answer, but when she didn't get one, she decided that she would wait with the model.
Jade returned to the group just the pair finished their song. She watched Tori pulled her singing mate into a quick hug. The others were clapping and some shouting on how impressed they were of his singing ability. She passed a quick look to see that Beck was not happy at all of his girlfriend and another guy named Benson being that close. When she looked to Nate, the one she was meant to fetch in the first place, she saw that he didn't look particularly please at the sight either.
This time she took a moment to roll her eyes at another guy turning his attention to the brunette. She figured he must have a thing for the 'girl-next-door' types hanging around Heather and turning an eye to Tori. She disregarded it and finished walking to the back of the couch and whispered into Nate's ear. He immediately tore his eyes away from Tori and leaned to his right to look Jade in the eyes.
The dark haired musician nodded her head to the side then started back to the other living room. The Texan got up from his seat and followed her.
They found Heather and Ava waiting at the foyer, oddly quiet.
Nate asked in a near disappointed tone, "You're ready to go?"
Heather forced a smile with her arms crossed over her chest. "Yeah, I'm not feeling too good."
The sandy blonde teenager brushed away any disappointment and asserted his gentlemanly demeanor. "Okay." He walked behind her and grabbed the door handle.
Jade quickly asked before they turned, "I'll give you a call later? We'll have lunch sometime next week?"
The darker hair of the pair cleared her throat then answered in a wavering voice, "I'll have to check my schedule for next week."
"Right, but you keep in touch okay?"
Heather looked back and equally blue eyes met one another, one set unsure what to do and the other hoping that she would say yes. The model finally cracked a smile. "Yeah, we'll talk later."
Ava followed up with a small smile, "Don't be a stranger."
Nate opened the door and the former Minnesota teenager took the lead in heading out. The Texan glanced over his shoulder just as they passed the threshold and gave his thanks for the good time.
Jade shut the door behind him then turned to Ava, a worried expression etched on her face. Both girls were at a lost for words as to what to say. Seeing that idly standing there wouldn't accomplish anything, the pair headed back to the second living room.
Freddie looked over his shoulder at his returning fiancée and asked, "Where's Heather?"
Tori overheard his question as she plopped down beside the former tech-producer then started glancing around the room to see if she could spot the pleasant girl. Noticing her absence, she asked in concern, "Yeah, where's Heather?"
Jade forced a smile and answered in a pleasant, but strained voice that at least Freddie picked up on, "She just had to go. She suddenly wasn't feeling good."
"Oh? I hope it wasn't something she ate."
The other guests immediately looked to each other in concern until Rex threw out, "If it was, Puckett would already have her head over the toilet with all she's eaten since she got here."
Sam rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the former puppet in mild disgust.
Rex just laughed at the one upping of her.
The others turned back to the gaming system to decide who would be singing next, reassured by the idea that there wasn't something wrong with the food.
The pale singer slipped beside Freddie on the couch and he whispered out, "Is she alright?"
Jade shook her head. "She looked like she was near the point of tears. The song looks like it got to her."
Freddie glanced over his shoulder to look back into the dining room and asked, "Do you think we should go after her?"
"And do what? What can we say to make her feel better?"
Freddie shook his head and looked away, feeling helpless in not being able to help his friend.
Jade snuggled up beside him and they turned their attention to the rest of the group settling in to hang out with each other for the rest of the afternoon.
As the afternoon slowly went by, the group split off into pairs or trios then mix back and split again as they enjoyed the food, company and big screen entertainment.
Amanda and Freddie sat at one end of the couch and animatedly talked with one another about one geeky or nerdy thing after the other after Jade decided to get up and stretch her legs and grab another snack.
When she returned, she actually smiled at seeing how he was able to get into several and in-depth conversations about all those geeky things with someone other than Robbie and Sinjin (that surprisingly weren't as knowledgeable as one might think) that he really couldn't discuss with her. They did include in each other's interests of course, they had done that since the beginning of their relationship, but it could only go so far as they could never match each other's enjoyment of their respective interests and hobbies. It was the same reason why he never gave it a second thought about why she originally was so enthusiastic to talk about 'The Scissoring' with Moose more than a year ago.
Jade glanced several times to Tori and Jon's direction, seeing them converse and Trina failing several times to get Jon to pay attention to her for any great length of time. She was impressed that he was able to swat her away without being rude towards her as plenty of other guys back at Hollywood Arts had no trouble doing.
She caught site of Beck several times giving a glance to Tori and the other boy named Benson as he nursed a drink. She wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't added something a little stronger. After watching from a distance for probably a good hour, he approached Jade and Ava sitting at the dining room table.
He politely smiled to the shorter girl and asked, "Ava, would you excuse us?"
Ava raised an eyebrow and glanced to Jade.
The darker haired teenager smiled and asked, "Would you give us a second?"
The sometimes looked over former Hollywood Arts student got up from her seat to look for Sinjin.
Beck turned an almost accusing glance to his former girlfriend as he took Ava's former seat and asked, "Did you and Trina put him up to this to get my attention?"
Jade narrowed her eyes and muttered, "What are you talking about?"
"Tori and Jon have been flirting back and forth since they got here."
Jade paused from his accusation then retorted with a near glare, "I don't appreciate the accusation. That's Tori just being Tori and Jon, I don't know him well enough to know if he's really flirting with her. Maybe he's just a friendly guy? I thought you said there weren't any problems, so why are you getting so defensive?"
He leaned forward in his seat and whispered, "This isn't funny Jade."
"I'm not laughing and we didn't put anyone up to anything. She's the one that invited him. Who was I to argue who she could invite to her own on location filming party?"
"You were there when she invited him?"
Jade raised her right eyebrow and gave him a questioning look, wondering if he just wasn't listening to them earlier. "Yeah. He's in the class before ours. That's where we see each other."
"So this isn't just some stunt by you two?"
Jade directed an almost dismissive expression to him and asked, "Why would we want to do that to you?"
"Well Trina doesn't much care for me being with Tori—"
The famous singer quickly snapped off at him, "Your problems with Trina are between you two and none of my business. If you think we are just conspiring to break you and Tori up, then you stop it right now. We're not doing any such thing. We told you what we were seeing and it's up to you do something about it."
Jade got up from her seat and walked away without another word, leaving Beck to slightly fume over the situation for practically the rest of the afternoon.
The afternoon finally wound down and the teenagers started making their way to the front door. Cat and Sam were the first to go, the blonde giving polite pleasantries and well wishes to Tori while Cat was far more genuine in her words about missing her friend over the next month. Robbie and Rex were next with their well wishes with Rex taking advantage of being 'a real boy' and picking her up for a hug and telling 'sweet cheeks' to remain sweet until they saw each other again.
Ava and Sinjin were the next to make their way out with the promise of seeing the star later and extracting a promise she'd take plenty of pictures on set.
André shared a quick hug with her before making his departure with the promise that he could, he'd make a trip to New York with the excuse to collaborate with some East Coast musicians.
Only the Bensons and Jade remained other than Beck and Trina to say their goodbyes.
Amanda was quickly wrapping up another discussion with Freddie as Jade watched while at the same time, Jon and Tori paired off to say his farewell. He politely smiled and remarked, "I'll see you when you get back."
Tori tossed some of her hair over her left shoulder and directed a lovely smile to him as she answered, "Yes. You'll see me in about a month or so if we don't run into any problems and we'll be running into each between classes."
"Thank you for the treat to hang out with some celebrities. I know you made Amanda's day."
The brunette looked to the dark red velvet haired teenager and replied with one of her lovely smiles, "I'm glad I could make her day. Since I'll be in New York, how about we meet up sometime during the filming? You can give me a proper tour of the city being a New York native."
Amanda resisted to look at her with bugged out eyes at the offer. "Are you serious? You want to hang out with me?"
"I've been there a few times over the last year, but it would be nice to know at least one person when I get there other than some of the people on the crew. I'm sure I'll make friends quick with my cast mates, but it's just not the same."
The New York girl nodded and gratefully remarked, "Okay. We'll see each other next week then. Just let me know where to meet you."
"Okay. If you follow me on TwitFlash, I'll DM."
"Alright."
The siblings started on their way out the door, Jon waving to the rest as he and Amanda exited the front door.
Trina whispered into Tori's ear and whispered, "He's cute and available?"
The younger sister jerked her head to look at her sister. She raised an eyebrow and slowly asked, "Yes?"
"Good, I just might have to go with Jade to class one day to meet up with him. Maybe he'll be interested in having lunch with me after his class."
Tori knotted her brow as she looked to her older sister.
The older brunette smirked, enjoying the opportunity to nudge her sister a little bit, "What? It's not like you can call dibs on him."
Tori frowned and softly admonished her older sister, "No, but you didn't get the message that he didn't seem interested?"
"That's because he was too busy fawning over you—the musical star giving him all the attention. That's what a fanboy is going to do when the near impossible thing of one of their celebrities is paying that much attention to them."
The younger Vega sister slightly frowned, but didn't respond as Freddie snuck up beside her and gave her a quick hug. She naturally returned the hug then he pulled back to smile to his brunette friend. "We need to be heading out. Call and tweet and we'll see you when you get back."
Once Tori was out of her friend's grip, she smiled and turned to Jade. She opened her arms up to her one time rival and stated with a big grin, "Come on, give Tori a squeeze."
Jade rolled her eyes and opened her arms to return the hug. "I'll see you when you get back. Just don't be gone too long."
"Sounds like you're going to miss me?"
The fellow musician shook her head and pursed her lips, "Nah, I just don't want to be bugged in our classes by people who want to get close to me with you gone for a month and…" She shrugged a shoulder towards Freddie and teased, "And Freddie would miss you."
Freddie rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Jade pulled away then directed quick smiles to Beck and Trina and stating in nearly an overdramatic voice, "Alright, we need to be heading home. I got a screenplay to look over and I'm sure Freddie has to get even further ahead in his work."
The muscular teenager laughed, "Hey, I got the time; I might as well get ahead. You never know what might come up and I have to put everything on hold." He looked to the others and teased, "Not all of us can be famous performers that can make more in a few months than I could in the next ten years, so we got to do what we can to get by."
The darkest brunette's playful smile slightly faltered and suddenly feeling uneasy. She quickly shoved that aside and wrapped an arm around Freddie's arm. "We'll see you when you get back. Have a safe flight."
Jade turned with Freddie to head out the door as Tori waved and shouted, "Thanks. I'll see you in a month."
Freddie threw back a hand and glanced over his shoulder, "Later."
West Residence
Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Several hours later after returning from Tori and Trina's house and having dinner with Mrs. West and the Colonel, Freddie was sitting on his bed with his laptop on his lap, his legs extended and crossed at the ankles. He finishing more code for one of his computer classes, something that had quickly came repetitive, but it was better to get ahead in case something came up in the future. He was pulled from his work with a soft knock on his open bedroom door.
The computer engineer student looked up and saw Jade leaning against the doorframe dressed for bed in a black spaghetti tank top that showed off some of her cleavage, her upper chest and shoulders (if her dark hair wasn't covering them) and black sweatpants with an aqua band 'belt'.
As lovely as she looked in her simplicity, he paused in his greeting at seeing her troubled expression. He quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
She glanced down at the floor and idly played with her fingers while taking a soft breath.
Freddie's concern spiked for a moment before she looked up with a slightly fearful expression and cautiously asked, "Can I ask you a stupid question?"
The former Seattleite closed his laptop and set it on his right nightstand then looked to her with hopefully a reassuring expression. "The look on your face tells me that you don't think it's a stupid question."
She glanced away and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
He patted the left spot next to him in bed with a hopeful smile.
Jade walked towards the left side of the bed and slid onto it to slip up next to him. He immediately wrapped his left arm around her to hold her close and kiss her forehead while she rested her cheek on his collarbone.
The couple sat quietly for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's presence and Freddie waiting for Jade to ask what she wanted to ask him.
She finally whispered, "Are we good?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, are we good? As us, you and me, we're good."
Freddie blinked, astonished being a little bit of an understatement. He slightly frowned and cautiously answered, "Yeah, we're good—I thought we were good. Do you think something's wrong?"
"No, just…"
"Just what Angel?"
"I see the relationships around us falling apart: the Vegas broke up and Tori and Trina are barely talking to them; Heather and Dusty… who saw that coming? Now Tori and Beck." She lifted her head off his shoulder to look in his eyes and hurriedly continued, "And you can't say something's not going on. She hung out with Jon after your lunch with her and today she was flirting with him practically the entire time. Hell, Beck finally noticed as he was eyeing Jon the entire time after the singing."
Freddie sighed, unable to argue with her observations, so he turned to what he thought was more productive to discuss, "And seeing them failing and having trouble has got you thinking about us?"
She nodded her head and answered in a quiet voice, "I know it sounds childish, but… we've been through Hell in being together and… I still have this little bit in me that says something is going to come along and hit us hard enough to finally break us and seeing them… I feel like everything around us is starting to crumble that it's a warning, like a foreshock before a big earthquake."
He smirked and playfully tickled her side his hand was resting. "I see someone paid attention in science class."
She frowned and poked him in the chest hard. "It's not funny."
The brown eye teenager's jovial expression faded a little and answered in an agreeing tone, "Okay. I hear what you're saying."
He squeezed her tighter to him and reassuringly whispered, "But… Robbie and Cat are doing fine and so are Ava and Sinjin. Heck, your mom and the Colonel are doing really great, so I could say that things are going to stay good." He chuckled, the vibration in his chest being a reassuring feeling against Jade, "We might have to start help planning a wedding for those two soon."
"You're right about that…" Her eyes shot open. "Oh my God, I'll have to be a bridesmaid."
He directed a boyish smirk at her and teased, "How do you know you won't be the maid-of-honor?"
The pale singer frowned, not liking that idea at all.
Freddie playfully tickled her side, getting her out of her momentary funk and drawing a laugh from her.
Jade playfully swatted his hand away and he stopped almost immediately and teased, "You'd be a very pretty one and look on the bright side: you can pick up tips on what you want and don't want for our wedding."
She took several breaths then slightly tilted her head to the side and raised her left eyebrow, missing her ring for a moment, and stated, "True. Going through helping with hers—when they finally decide to have it—could make planning ours easier. We could find out who the really good caterers and such are."
The couple fell silent again, their respective breathing the only sound in the room.
Jade finally muttered, "I'll let you get back to what you were doing." She attempted to get up, but Freddie pulled her back to him and grinned.
Jade caught herself and rested her left hand on his chest, turning a slightly wicked smile to him.
The teenager originally from Seattle smoothly remarked, "I'd rather we do this than type away at any code. Besides, I'm like two weeks ahead."
Jade shifted and threw her left leg over him to straddle his thighs then cupped his cheeks. She gave him a quick kiss then asked, "Would 'this' include a little intimacy?"
"It depends? Does one of us have to get up and close the door?"
She glanced over her right shoulder to see she had left the door open then looked back at him. She wickedly smiled, "Nah, PG will be fine for right now… unless you want a little more…" She emphasized her point by letting her left hand trail down his chest and briefly pause over his cotton covered abs.
He grinned and swiped a kiss from her then teased, "PG will be just fine for me Angel."
The pale skin girl let out a giggle of all things as she wrapped her arms behind his neck and settled in for a few more kisses before they decided to lie together and watch some television, occasionally trading kisses.
Tori and Trina Vega Residence
Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Tori whistled out a breath while she frantically looked over her several open suitcases lying on her bed. The time was just after noon and her flight was in an hour and she was starting to panic in making sure she had everything she needed for the month. She was kicking herself in not packing last night, but she was tired and just wanted to spend the evening cuddling with Beck, something she put out of her mind that she had mixed feelings doing with him.
She could always buy anything she needed when she got to New York, but didn't want to go through the hassle if she really needed something. She'd shop of course when she had some free time, but she'd want to shop for pleasure, not necessity.
She was also feeling a little panicky in whether or not she would be able to make her flight. She needed to go through TSA so they could harass her, but hopefully not humiliate like all the other innocent people they loved to do under the guise of security. She made it a point to dress down as much as possible, planning to wear a baseball cap and go makeup free in the hopes that they wouldn't purposely pick her out for molestati—security pat down because she was an attractive female.
Beck popped his head around the doorframe of the bedroom and asked his girlfriend with an upbeat tone, "You ready?"
Tori stood up and snapped her head around, her long straight hair having fallen to the side of her face so it flipped around off her shoulder and onto her back. She answered quickly, "Almost. I think I have everything. If not, I'll just pick up it up when I get there."
The long haired actor reassuringly smiled to his girlfriend as he stepped into the room. "There's no rush. The plane will be there when you're ready."
The corners of her mouth fell and her brow furled in an adorable manner. "Huh?"
Beck softly laughed as she approached her. He slipped his arms around her hips, feeling an odd shiver go through the attractive actress, and answered, "You don't have to worry about rushing to get to the airport. I charted you a private jet for your trip."
The brunette's brow flickered and asked with mild disbelief and a higher than normal pitched voice, "Private jet? Really?"
He smugly answered, "Yeah, I don't want those grubby TSA members to get the chance to just feel you up. Call it my treat to you."
Tori closed lip smiled and slightly bowed her head.
Beck took the opportunity to dip his head and steal a kiss from her.
She laughed into it and deepened it just a little at the same time she wrapped her arms behind his neck. They traded a few more kisses before she pulled her lips away and looked into his eyes. "Thank you. I appreciate the treat. After hearing what happened to Heather earlier in the year, I've been tempted to charter private planes."
The long haired actor put on a sour expression for a moment at recalling the incident and one of the few times he wholeheartedly agreed with Dusty's actions. He quickly put that aside and continued, "You don't have to worry about any of that. You just get to get on the plane and relax. Stay safe and have a fun time filming."
Tori laughed and stole a cheek kiss from him. "I will."
"Good. I'll see you in about two weeks then we'll figure out our filming schedules."
Tori smiled at the thought just as Beck leaned forward for another quick kiss.
The sound of someone clearing his or her throat interrupted the couple's kiss and they quickly pulled away from each other.
Trina innocently smiled and asked, "I'm sorry did I interrupt?"
Beck smacked his lips and remarked with mild irritation filling his voice, "Yeah, you did."
The older Vega sister's smile grew larger as she lazily commented, "Oh, I'm so sorry."
The former Hollywood Arts heartthrob shook his head and rolled his eyes. He would not miss dealing with Trina for the next two weeks as he had no reason to stop by their house with Tori not being here.
Tori looked back and forth between her sister and boyfriend, still wondering what had caused the sudden up tick in their adversarial relationship.
Beck turned his head back to meet the younger sister's eyes and asked, "You want me to drive?"
"Nah, I can handle it."
The long haired actor grinned and replied with a jovial tone, "I don't mind."
Tori playfully brushed away, "It's alright. I can handle a little drive to the airport… I just need to know where the airport is located…"
Her boyfriend spoke up, "Not a problem. I already set your GPS to take you right to the airport. You shouldn't have any problem getting there. It'll just talk you all the way through it."
Tori laughed, "Great."
She turned back to her luggage and started zipping it up. She picked up one bag while Beck picked up the heaviest of the suitcases with Trina relenting to carry a piece or two. The three made their way down the stairs, cut through the living room and headed for the garage.
The trio crossed through the kitchen with Tori swiping her keys off the key rack by the door to the garage then they headed for her vehicle. Tori electronically opened the truck to allow Beck to slip her suitcases in it while Trina opened one of the back passenger doors to slip the rest of the luggage inside.
Tori slipped into the driver's side of her car and doubled checked to see if she had all her personal affects. She was about to pull the door shut, but Trina stepped forward to block the door's path. The older sister quickly informed, "Okay, Stacy will meet you at the airport and if you forget anything, she'll know it. You'll have a car waiting for you when you land that will take you straight to the hotel."
The younger brunette flashed a smile. "Thanks Trina."
Tori was mildly surprised when Trina dipped inside and pulled her into a quick hug. She whispered, "I'll see you in a month."
As her sister pulled away, Tori smiled and answered, "I'll see you soon… and no parties."
The older girl put on a pout and shut the door to Tori's car. She took a few steps back and allowed Tori to get settled then tap the automatic garage attached to her sun visor and back the car out of the driveway. As she pulled out into the driveway then into the street, Trina and Beck waved.
Tori waved back as she drove away.
Once she was out of sight, Trina offered with a side glance to him, "You want lunch?"
The long haired actor raised an eyebrow. "You're inviting me to stay?"
"She'd get mad at me if I just kicked you off the driveway just after she left," Trina answered as she turned back to the door to the kitchen then flipped the switch to close the garage door.
Beck shook his head as he followed her back inside.
In Route to Van Nuys Airport and approaching the Intersection of Sherman Way and Valjean Ave
Los Angeles, CA
Tori felt relaxed as she leisurely made her way to the last part of the drive to the airport. She felt good being behind the wheel since she didn't get behind it that often. When she went out, Beck, Trina or Freddie would be driving because she would ride with Beck and Freddie and Trina… well Trina simply didn't have all that much trust in her. The older Vega's belief was quite ironic since one time she had shaved her legs while driving—okay, she had shaved her sister's leg, but she was still reckless yet safely got them to the school.
Tori was about to slow down at seeing the red light at the intersection with Valjean Avenue, but it turned green, so she maintained her speed of just under thirty five miles per hour. As she crossed the intersection, she saw a large object invade her peripheral vision to her left and took her a split second to realize that an SUV had crossed into her vision and obviously in her path.
She slammed on her brakes in vain.
The next fractions of a second seemed to take an eternity to pass as the front of her car instantly crushed like a collapsing accordion and sending the front end of the SUV swinging in a counterclockwise motion. The tail end of the sports utility vehicle slammed into the driver's side door of Tori's car, demolishing the side of it and causing the car to skid a few feet.
The seatbelt caught the brunette and the airbag deployed, but she partially and fortunately tossed to her right away from her caved in door and the airbag only partially deflected the side of her forehead hitting the steering wheel.
As the vehicle came to a rest, her head slammed back on the head rest and her head slumped to her right, her vision instantly clouded and she started to blackout. She saw the licking flames in the other vehicle from the corner of her left eye just as her eyes drooped closed and her ears were filled with horrifying screams of a mother.
Author's Notes: Longer chapter, but I hope you enjoy. Weirdly, this is the second time I have Tori in trouble as a cliffhanger, but actually this ending was planned for that last several months and it is just a coincidence in relation to my Jade: The Vampire Slayer sequel.
Also, check out Victoria Justice and Max Schneider's duet of 'Say Something' on Youtube which inspired their snippet duet in this chapter.
For those that have seen 'Killing Daddy', you might recognize Jade's nightwear outfit with Freddie.
Also, as I had Rex appear again in this story, I wanted to take a second to address something that PD31 asked about, 'What possessed me to make Rex 'real'?' I thought I'd answer that: I didn't want Robbie to actually have multiple personality disorder as Rex had been pretty developed through the series and to keep him as a puppet would hinder the Cabbie relationship.
Take care, OneHorseShay